GSL Code S 2016 Season 2 Grand Finals Preview

The time has come yet again to crown another Global Starcraft 2 League champion, and with that I could not be happier with the two potential candidates. On September 10th we will have sOs facing off against Byun in a match that I would have to say is very highly anticipated and two of the strongest names of their respective races.This match also marks history in a few ways as it is Byun’s very first grand finals as a player as well as the first time a teamless player has made it to the finals of any Kespa event. As always there is going to be so much on the line for these players, things like a direct seed into the Blizzcon tournament, as well as the title itself of being crowned GSL Code S champion which is not something a lot of people can boast. However these players will have to cast that aside so they can perform at their best on this stage. There will also be another event going on shortly before the GSL which is the BroodWar sister tournament the AfreecaStarLeague which has a PvT finals with Eyewater, more commonly known as Shuttle, going against Sharp to take the first ASL title so be sure to tune in early to check that out!

The first finalist was sOs, he took a very decisive 4-1 win over Myungsik to place himself in the finals. sOs has always been known for his creative and very deep level understanding of the game which allows him to play and win in ways that many other players cannot. He showed his brilliance throughout this season in the PvP matchup dropping only two maps even though he played players like herO, and Myungsik. Now assuming I did the math and understand the new WCS system correctly sOs only has one way of making it into Blizzcon, and that would be by winning the GSL this season after his bad start in season one as well as dropping out in the challenger set of Starcraft Star League games causing him to miss out on those points. With that in mind if there can be any extra pressure added to performing on the GSL stage that would have to be it.

Looking into sOs outside of PvP he actually has only had four PvT matchups one in SSL as well as three in GSL, one of which he lost 2-0 to Byun, which leads me to wonder how much Byun can really learn about the way sOs will want to play. With the combined knowledge of sOs and the Jin Air Greenwings coaching staff there will be plenty of minds pouring over the games that Byun has played looking for any potential flaws or exploits. With that in mind I expect everyone to have there note pads out ready to try and emulate whatever it is that sOs can come up with to try and claim the title.

In the other chair we will see Byun, who has been a fun story to see unfold throughout Legacy of the Void. After a long disappearance during Heart of the Swarm during his time on PRIME, and many questioned who this “Byun” character was winning all of the online events, and now he has come back into the light of LAN events and has been showing that he has what it takes to play. Currently teamless he has not been in Proleague for quite some time so minus some very rare streams the only time we get to see the brilliance of his play is during GSL or SSL events. Similar to sOs Byun had a short lived SSL run losing to Solar and Classic in the main event group stages which leaves this to be his last tournament of the year in Korea unless he makes it into the recently announced Kespa Cup.

With all of that being said I expect this to be the showdown of the century between two heavy hitters. Byun with his incredible mechanics and reflexes dropping everywhere while also managing each drop with incredible precision. While sOs the master tactician could render those mechanics useless with excellent builds and never before seen playstyles that could really through Byun off of his game. I thoroughly expect this series to be a 4-3 with no clue as to who could be the winner. However looking at what little resources there are on each player if Byun plays the way he has played thus far in the tournament I definitely see him being in a strong position to take the series.

If you have any questions feel free to email them to me at Powerwarmachine@yahoo.com

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